ian turns 4

it's hard to believe that it's been (over) 4 years since i brought my sweet little boy into this world.  he is still sweet, but no longer so little.  gah.  4?!  well, maybe he is still little... at his 4 year check-up he weighed in at 34 lbs and is 39.5" which put him in the 25-50%.  he also had a hearing test- he failed on the right ear 4 times, so we are still waiting to see what the next step will be for that.  for his actual birthday he chose to go to super bounce at the mall and then he wanted to eat chinese for dinner while watching turbo.  not a bad day for a 4 year old!

it's really amazing to see how much he's grown over the last 4 years... i mean, i can tell how much bigger he's gotten just since isla was born.  it makes my heart ache a little bit!  he doesn't like to sit still- it's been hard to get him to focus on doing learning activities- i often wonder if i'm putting him at a disadvantage by not working on these things with him, but it's hard to get him to focus.  he does know the alphabet, and he can count to 10, and he gets a little mixed up counting to 20.  he knows his name, our names, his birthday, where he lives, colors, shapes.  i have been working with him on writing his name (it's short, so it shouldn't be that hard)!  he loves to read, but usually only wants to read in his room at bedtime.  he loves playing sports, and hopefully it will be warm enough to start playing outside soon b\c this kid is dying to have some fresh air!  he loves superheroes and ninja turtles, and cars and trains and lots of boy stuff.  he loves to sing songs, and i find it amazing that he memorizes them so quickly!  he has quite a sense of humor and a kind heart.  he is a wonderful big brother and he really loves his sister so much!  he is a people pleaser and he is very stubborn.  he hates to see you mad at him, but he really just wants to have his way.  i love this kid so much!

we decided to have a ninja turtles party for his 4th birthday.  i used my dear friend pinterest for ideas and i think we put together a pretty good party, there was pizza, and hamburger cupcakes and all sorts of ninja fun!

 party favors!

 turtle lanterns

 ooze 

 ninja turtle fruit/veggie trays (we had one for all the turtles)

 hamburger cupcakes

 the birthday boy's cupcake

 

cousins!

 

 captain america

pictures from his actual birthday

 turtle power!

 isla looks like she's wondering if ian is going to shank her

and to make me cry:

 a day old

1st birthday

2nd birthday

3rd birthday!

sigh!

staying fit!

it's 2 days in a row here... could i be back in blogging?! yesterday i talked a bit about diet- but i wanted to hit a little on something i think is even more important than dieting- exercise. when i was pregnant, and even before... and sadly for a year or more after- i wasn't very active. dave & i would go on walks from time to time, but nothing major. when dave suggested we do a triathlon to celebrate our 30th birthdays, i thought he was crazy- but then i started working out, and you know what? it wasn't hard- it was actually kind of... fun. now working out isn't always an adventure, but it certainly feels good most of the time, and even better- it makes it a little more satisfying when you want to indulge every now and then. i've posted before on keeping your children active- but what better example can you set for them than the example of you yourself being active. i want ian to see that i tried, and that i worked hard. i love when we pick him up from the gym nursery and he says "momma's 'esser-sizin!'" i love being that example for him! i wanted to share this infographic because i think physical activity is so important, not only for children, but adults as well... just see what only a few minutes extra a day can do for you!!  lack of proper nutrition and activity is a serious deal for people everywhere- it's really scary stuff.  so please, take a look!

Infographic courtesy of here!

what ian's been up to

seriously, thank you all for your (gentle) opinions.  honestly, dave would tell me i looked good wearing a burlap sack and it's refreshing to hear some opinions.  i may try that again with everything else in my closet...

it's been 2 months since ian turned 2 and i stopped doing monthly updates, but i started this blog while journeying through his baking process and i do love to drone on talk about him- so i figure that i can update you guys!

 scalp treatments for eczema

"big boy" transitioning is under way- although he's far from being a big boy.  we moved him out of his high chair into a booster seat- mainly b\c i was tired of the high chair taking up half my kitchen.  he really likes being at the table and being able to sit in between us.  he's been a pretty decent eater lately- although he's on a bagel dog kick, and he insists on putting "sketchups" on everything.  eww.  there really is no telling what he'll eat- he still refuses to eat most vegetables too- but he still eats the baby food pouches "couches" which are full of veggies, so whatevs.

new big boy seat.  notice sketchups on the plate.

my child still uses a binky.  if you take issue with that, feel free to accompany us on our next 800 mile trip from illinois to georgia- it's in 2 weeks.  no really, feel free to join us.  i have no time table for getting rid of it.  before 3.  i have 10 months.  i figure that it's only used for "sleepy times" so it hopefully won't be a major issue.  i have so many other things going on right now that i figure that's still ok.

 giving eleanor a hug on valentine's day

ian is still in his crib too.  we have a super cool idea for his big boy bed if we can execute it.  it's going to take some work though- so we'll just leave him in the crib for now.  there have been no jail break attempts either, so we're safe for now.  he'll be out of it before we have the next one.

 wearing his dj lance glasses and totally "shredding" on his guitar

gosh, he's so big- it's scary.  i just want to remember every expression, every nuance.  he just lights up my life.  his giggles, his smile.  i don't want to get all sappy- but i just want to bottle it all up.  sometimes i just look at him and i cry because i just want to remember it all forever.  a lot of times he just laughs at me while i'm crying, or says "you ok?" 

 this is a typical reaction to the words "it's time to get ready for bed"

he loves movies- toy story is the favorite right now- we usually don't watch movies w\ him, so he picked that one up at the gym.  he mostly enjoys tv shows with me- gabba is the all-time favorite, but he's also really into curious george & chuggington.  he's also a big fan of music or "songs" as he likes to call it.  he's gotten to the point where he only wants to listen to certain things and has a complete fit if he doesn't listen.  for us right now that is the "brudders" or the "sons" (avett brothers & mumford & sons).  if we try to listen to something else in dave's car- a temper tantrum follows until we're listening to one of those two cds.  i won't make that mistake again.  he also likes to sing along with the songs and sometimes play the drums.  the other night he sang himself to sleep singing a mumford song.

 so glad this snowsuit was purchased last year on clearance considering this is the ONLY time he got to wear it all winter.  he is singing frosty the snowman to his snowman. 

he's also really into sports.  he got a hockey net for his birthday and was all about hockey, but we went to a friend's house a few times and she had a basketball goal, so he got some late birthday money a couple weeks ago and we bought him a goal set and now it's "bassetball" all the time.  he shoots, he scores!  is a favorite line uttered in this house!  favorite toys- trains & cars.  don't act so surprised...

 playing hockey and watching hockey

i'm so excited that warmer weather is just around the bend b\c he loves playing outside and we have a neighborhood playground just across the street.  ian also got a little balance bike for his birthday and he has a lot of fun riding that. 

ian still has a milk allergy & a mild egg allergy- we will have those checked yearly- i'm really hoping he outgrows it in the next couple of years b\c sometimes i let him have little bites of things and that kid loves cheese (and who wouldn't).

 sometimes we like to lock ourselves in our room and squeeze half a tube of vaseline in our hair.  oh joy!

oh, and i almost forgot- and i won't expand on it a lot b\c i don't want to be one of those moms, but we are potty training.  it's going really well and he's going at least once or twice a day, but we're not quite ready to move out of diapers.  we have a system that's working really well for us, and maybe once he's trained i'll go a little more in depth, but i'm hoping that he'll be fully trained by this summer- but we'll see. 

 who me?

as you can see, there's always a lot going on at our house.  sometimes fun, sometimes crazy.  oh boy.

ian month by month- year 2

24 months

ian turned 2 on january 20th.  i can't believe it's been 2 years since that sweet baby boy came into our lives.  life has become so exciting in our house.  it's giggles one minute and seizing on the floor screaming the next minute...  ::sigh::

ian talks my ear off most of the day.  mostly one word at a time.  cars, ga-ba, color, hockey, snacks (which these days is beginning to sound more like "socks" or "sex"), pwease, hiiiii, ma-ma, stories...  those are the most popular ones.  he also loves singing songs all day long- from whatever is playing on the ygg pandora station, to a little bit of mumford and sons.  my favorites are dancing machine by the jackson 5 and rock star by the fresh beat band.  so stinkin' cute.

ian loves his cars still- he got lots of hot wheels for christmas.  in fact, he got so much for christmas, we decided to pack a few away for later- maybe potty training rewards.  he got a lot of stuff that we ended up packing away and saving for later- looks like potty training will be fun!  ian also got a hockey goal for his birthday- so he loves playing hockey and shooting the balls into the net.  he's basically into anything & everything.  the favorite show right now is yo gabba gabba...  we had been watching a nice variety, but now it's only gabba.  i have almost 25 episodes on the dvr and i feel like i saw all of them yesterday...  oi.

i guessed ian's weight perfectly from last month- he's exactly 25 lbs.  that means he's finally moved from being off the bottom of the chart to in the 25th% for weight.  he's now 34" tall, which is in the 50-75th%.  so he's gained 5 lbs and grown 2" in the last 6 months.  wow!  18 month clothes are finally getting a little snug (mostly too short).  i packed all the 12 month stuff up finally.  he could probably fit fine into some 24 month and 2T clothes, so i'll probably be pulling those out soon. 

so i have a "terrible 2" year old.  it's a little crazy from time to time.  there are crazy tantrums and this weird "NOOOOO" thing that came out of nowhere.  he's pretty good most of the time, although it can be a little frustrating.  i've definitely learned that sometimes just walking away is the best thing to do- and it's normally when he gets up and, surprise, isn't crying anymore...

food is always an adventure- what he'll eat today he won't even look at tomorrow.  "sketchup" is a favorite, and yes, i have been known to dip a blueberry in sketchup to get my child to eat it.  i'll also put food on a chip- it serves the same purpose.  gotta do what i gotta do... word.

being 2 is huge.  it's such a big step.  most kids potty train, move out of a crib, out of a high chair, have to give up the binky and also possibly gain a sibling during the crucial 2nd year.  i can't imagine how hard it is to go through all of that at once.  i'm waiting out the crib thing until ian starts to attempt crib escapes- so for now, we're safe.  the sibling thing- it's at least another year away.  the high chair move- not needed right now.  so my focus is on potty training & giving up the binky.  i'm really not sure when i want to start the binky thing- he only uses it for naps and bedtime, so it's not a problem- but learning to sleep without is something he's going to have to do- i'm just not sure he even can comprehend what that means though.

we are working on potty training however.  i have been collecting random stickers, and i printed a special yo gabba gabba chart.  i just need to come up with a little treat for him- i think we decided on raisinettes.  i also told him if he fills up his charts he'll get a little prize too (a christmas gift, perhaps..)  lately, ian has been into sitting on the potty- he started this just last saturday night- now i'm not sure if it's a "let's delay bedtime" tactic (seriously, manipulation, already?!) or if he really wants to go- either way, sitting on the potty is sitting on the potty, regardless of when it happens.  i'm not going to go into a lot of detail about it because no one wants/needs to know all that, but i'll definitely share some of the funnier stories and when everything's been accomplished.

i'll share more this week about ian's parties and all the fun we had, but now, photos from the 24th month, including the last monthly picture.  :(

 opening gifts with mommy

 tears on christmas morning b\c he had to open other gifts (with uncle bear)

 reading with daddy

 saying bye to pop & gigi (my grandparents)

 working the shipyard.

 books and hockey in his new robe

 bowl game day.

 eating a frozen choco-banana treat

 and when the treat is done?

 balloons make me happy

 car without wheels

 grampy's bike helmet

 bedtime cheese

 cakes?

 big smiles

i'm 2!!!

23 months

i can't believe this is the 2nd to last update that i'll be doing for ian.  every day i can't believe that we're getting close to ian's 2nd birthday.  it seriously just seems like yesterday that he was put into my arms for the first time, yet sometimes it seems like it was so long ago that i hardly remember what he was like as a baby. 

ian is so chatty- he talks to me all day long.  mostly he's talking about "cars" or "stories."  it's so funny the things he says.  telling strangers that they're silly, or looking at you and saying "you're stinky."  he keeps us entertained.  he also loves to sing songs all day long- he can sing a little bit of everything- from frosty the snowman (which he sang during the christmas eve service communion prayer...oops) to can you feel the love tonight.

ian's favorite toys are his cars, and he loves reading his books.  those are the 2 big things that he's into right now.  he loves matchbox cars/hot wheels- he's got a nice little collection going.  his cousins are really into cars, and his uncle mike has been teaching him what each car is.

ian is finally fitting into most of his 18 month clothes- i can definitely tell he's getting taller & putting on some pounds.  i'm guessing he's probably close to 25 lbs- but we'll find out at his 2 year appointment later this month.

ian's favorite things to eat right now are blueberries, applesauce, peas, breads, hot dogs and waffles.  he has a healthy appetite most days, although there are occasions where he just refuses to eat, and i guess that's  normal for kids his age.

we're definitely in the terrible twos stage.  there is a lot of weeping and gnashing of teeth- most days we've both got to just take a chill pill.  i have gotten much better at just letting it pass by ignoring it, or just asking ian to use words with me to express what he's so mad about- which most of the time seems like nothing.  this has got to be a hard stage for kids- not a baby anymore, and just getting into big kid stuff- it seems a lot is going on from potty training to a new bed, and for a lot of kids his age- new siblings.  ian has a while before he'll have to deal with that though.

we're not potty training.  ian is uninterested and frankly just doesn't have time- he's too busy to actually stop and use the potty.  i'm not in a hurry, but it sure would be nice.  ian's also still in his crib- i figure why rush things if he's still content in there, and he is- he hasn't tried to escape yet, so i'm fine with him sticking in the crib a while longer.

i can't believe the next update will be ian's 2nd birthday- i can't wait to share about his birthday and all the fun we had at christmas.  here are some pictures from month 23!!

there are a lot of pictures coming, and a big eff you to blogger for making me upload them three times.  i hate you.  seriously.

 wearing daddy's head warmer

 shirtless "cheeeeese" face

 eating crayons for thanksgiving

attempting to get christmas card photos

 peanut butter jelly time!

 finding the perfect tree

new hiding spot

 waiting to see santa

even newer hiding spot

 more apprehension over santa

 23 months!!!!